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December 17, 2009

How To Be More Visible at Work

In order to be successful in the
business world, your supervisors and colleagues must view you as a consistent
contributor. But assuming your boss isn’t someone who recognizes your
achievements every day, how can you let people know what you’ve accomplished
without coming across as an arrogant braggart? Here are a few tips:

Meet with your boss weekly to ensure she always knows
the status of your projects. Show enthusiasm about what you’ve achieved,
and your boss will think you’re passionate and excited about your job (in
addition to competent).

If you get an e-mail from an executive or colleague
praising your work, check to see if he cc’d your boss. If not, clip
the e-mail, keep it in a folder marked “Positive Feedback,” and reference
it when you’re putting together your performance review materials.

When your team does an amazing job on a project you
either led or worked on, send an e-mail thanking your colleagues for their
hard work. CC your boss for double the points: he’ll think you’re a great
team player AND a superstar employee.

I frequently tell the story of my
first job, when I held a daily lockdown in my cube and churned out work like
the future of the Middle East depended on it. I hardly saw our Group
Head, whereas my super-procrastinator colleague made sure the big guy was
always in the loop.

When our immediate boss left the
firm, guess who the Group Head tapped to take her place? Not Ms.
Super-Contributor, but Mr. Super-Procrastinator. If you don’t assert your
accomplishments, sometimes no one else will, and you’ll be out-promoted by
people who might not have as much to offer but are smarter about leveraging
their contributions. Remember, it's not about what you do, it's about who knows what you do.

Comments

I couldn't agree more -- these are great suggestions! You could also ask for projects that would provide greater visibility, especially if you know you can use your talents to really shine in front of higher-ups. It makes you look good and your supervisor look good for hiring such as star. Everyone wins.

I hope your readers take your advice to heart and turn it into action – especially the task-oriented ones, like me! Those of us who tend to be more oriented toward information and doing the work than relationships, incorrectly assume that our knowledge or productivity will speak for itself letting us off the hook for speaking for ourselves. Rather than seeing talking about ourselves as shameless self-promotion, we need to start seeing it as our responsibility. We have a responsibility to let team members and decision makers know what we have to offer, how we can contribute and how we are making things better. We are always happy when we find out about a product or service that is “just what we need.” How are we going to find out about these things if someone, somewhere isn’t deliberately working on letting us know about them? Similarly how can we expect our bosses to find out about what we have to offer if we aren’t letting them know? So in the spirit of the holiday season, let's all go out and give the gift of US!!!